Staff Officer-2nd Interview

mayo londoner

Hi,

I've been called to a 2nd/final interview in the next few weeks for a Staff Officer panel in a County Council. I attended the Competency based preliminary interview before Xmas and did well scoring 510/600. Interview was only meant to last 20mins but was in there 38mins which I found odd and they grilled me both on the competencies and the Budget/Corporate Plan (which I didnt't think they would but luckily had prepared for).

It states in the letter that I received that this will be a 'competency based interview focusing on the competencies and the esstential requirements outlined in the post as outlined in the booklet'. This is what I effectively done for the first interview to be honest so a bit stumped as to what approach I should take. Should I just study the notes I have done out (inc Coporate Plan/Budget/Annual Report etc) or does anyone have first hand experience in what they may ask? Would have thought a lot of the questions I answered in the prelim interview would have been more applicable to the final interview.

Any help/suggestions appreciated.

Cheers

Ollie321

mayo londoner wrote: »

Hi,

I've been called to a 2nd/final interview in the next few weeks for a Staff Officer panel in a County Council. I attended the Competency based preliminary interview before Xmas and did well scoring 510/600. Interview was only meant to last 20mins but was in there 38mins which I found odd and they grilled me both on the competencies and the Budget/Corporate Plan (which I didnt't think they would but luckily had prepared for).

It states in the letter that I received that this will be a 'competency based interview focusing on the competencies and the esstential requirements outlined in the post as outlined in the booklet'. This is what I effectively done for the first interview to be honest so a bit stumped as to what approach I should take. Should I just study the notes I have done out (inc Coporate Plan/Budget/Annual Report etc) or does anyone have first hand experience in what they may ask? Would have thought a lot of the questions I answered in the prelim interview would have been more applicable to the final interview.

Any help/suggestions appreciated.

Cheers

Prelim interviews are sometimes carried out by internal staff whereas round 2 are usually carried out by an external board, have you received details of the board?

mayo londoner

@Ollie321 no, I don't have any details of the interview board.

However I'm nearly certain that the male who was on the prelim board interviewed me for a role in another Council a few weeks previously and the other name that's at the bottom of the Interview Marking Sheet doesn't show up when I google the council in question but shows up as Head of HR in another Council co-incidently although I can't find an image of her online to confirm!

Was 3 interview boards and I'm applying to get on the 'Open' panel so might make sense as to why I may have been interviewed by two external members firstly although I can't be 100% certain.

daithi84

Your second interview will be more based on your experiences and stories based on the competencies. I find prelim interviews are very quick and just a general overview. The questions on the budget and corporate plan are typical for a non local gov person applying on the open panel, just to test that you know what the council is all about.

For each competency have around 2 or 3 examples of each so you are fully prepared. It will be mostly situational questions on past experiences.

Most councils now use a pool of external interviewers for their recruitment. I find it better because i dont know them and will never have to see them again as opposed to be interviewed by someone in your own workplace.

mayo londoner

Thanks Daithi, I've got a couple situations already down for each comeptency since the preliminary interview so hopefully will be ok using them again, thanks for the info.

daithi84

Yeah you can defo use them again. Also research the current issues facing the council your going for. Main one is always funding, have some examples other than housing because lots of people have housing as an example. Research the budgets and know the process for the budget and property tax.

mayo londoner

Just a couple further questions on this since the process is a bit unclear. Since I passed the prelim interview stage and am now at final interview stage, does this mean that I will be allocated a place on the panel? In other words is it an interview to determine what position I may be on the panel or is there the possibility that I may not get on it at all?

Other thing that is confusing me is how do they allocate positions from both the Internal and Open panels? Do Internal panels usually get preference?

daithi84

mayo londoner wrote: »

Just a couple further questions on this since the process is a bit unclear. Since I passed the prelim interview stage and am now at final interview stage, does this mean that I will be allocated a place on the panel? In other words is it an interview to determine what position I may be on the panel or is there the possibility that I may not get on it at all?

Other thing that is confusing me is how do they allocate positions from both the Internal and Open panels? Do Internal panels usually get preference?

I have only been in one competition where they put a very low number of people through to the final round and the final interview was just to assign their place on the panel. Most councils only use the prelim as a short listing method and not all people who get through are offered a place on the panel. Usually they eliminate half the people are prelim and then only place half of that again onto a panel after final interview.

The one council which did assign everyone to the panel didn't inform us that was the method they were using. There is always the possibility you wont get put on a panel.

I dont actually know how they assign places based on an internal and external panel. I would presume everyone is ranked according to score and if the external panel places are already filled by the time they reach you then you won't get a position on the panel regardless of score as external places have been filled. Internal do not get preference, but more positions are open to internal candidates and we can apply for both internal and external panels.